


Unexpected

by ForgottenDream12



Series: The Worst STD Ever [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bottom Tony Stark, Friends With Benefits, Hanahaki Disease, Insecure Tony, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Top Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 21:43:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15519240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForgottenDream12/pseuds/ForgottenDream12
Summary: All he could really think about was the fact that motherfucking Steve Rogers had infected him with a forties era illness that must have been unearthed with him. This was the worst STD ever. He’d have to kill him for this, that was certain. His next thought was that he could never let him find out.Prompt: Hiding illness/injury





	Unexpected

Tony should have seen this coming. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise. This was a normal occurrence, it was just weird being on the other side of things. Still, he couldn’t help but freeze in the entryway as Steve ended his call. The coffee mug that hung in his hand felt ten times heavier as his heart sunk. He should have stayed down in his workshop.

All he wanted was a cup of coffee. Okay, and maybe to see Steve, but the coffee had been priority one. Caffeine from the kitchen’s machine just tasted better, alright? Now…now it felt like he’d choke on anything he tried to force down his throat. He should have stayed in the workshop, then he’d never have heard it.

He had just enough time to mask his expression before Steve turned from the view overlooking Manhattan and finally noticed him. The grin that lit up the blonde’s face made his sinking heart shrivel up the rest of the way. Couldn’t he at least look a little guilty at getting caught? Really, what had happened to sweet Mr. Apple Pie, monogamy and the American way?

Yeah, so maybe they had never talked exclusivity and it was really more of a friends with benefits arrangement, but…shouldn’t he have gotten some notice before it ended? All Steve would have had to tell him was that he was thinking about getting back together with Sharon. Tony would have been okay with that, would have ended it without any fuss. He was cool like that, good at hiding the hurt. It was just that this one hurt a little more.

Honestly, he’d thought they had something good. Something lasting even. It was a little unexpected, that’s all. He wouldn’t have put up any fuss if he could just have had some time to prepare for the end. It was always a bit easier if he saw it coming. Then he could have been the one to tell Steve things weren’t working out. Clean break from his end, like normal.

He would have had time to collect all the little things of Steve’s that had migrated to his room over the past couple months. Like the second toothbrush sitting right by his own, the straight razor in his medicine cabinet, and a few articles of clothing that had filtered in. All the signs of a budding relationship, or, he supposed, a frequent booty call.

Sure, Steve didn’t stay over often, really only when the rest of the Avengers weren’t in the tower, but it was enough that he hadn’t minded when the stuff showed up. He had honestly been happy to find the toothbrush. Steve had said he’d been getting sick of using the disposable ones Tony stashed away for ‘guests.’ The guy hated disposable anything, but Tony drew the line at saving shitty toothbrushes for repeated use.

As the rest of the items came in, he had thought it was a signal that maybe Steve wanted something a little more permanent. He’d been ready to clear off a shelf for him and empty a drawer. Well, he’d already emptied the drawer. It had mostly been spare parts that had no reason to be in his bedroom anyway so it hadn’t been much of an issue. Now he just felt foolish.

God, just imagining his reaction if Tony had gone through with it was painful. Surely even a guy from the forties would have realized what the ‘I Got You a Drawer’ phrase signified. The humiliation burned up through his throat and he hadn’t even said anything to him about it. He would never have been able to handle the ‘it’s not you it’s me’ talk. Worse, Steve probably really would have been _apologetic_ at not returning Tony’s feelings. His stomach rolled with self-disgust. How pathetic was he?

Seeing that Steve was about to say something, he raised his cup pointedly and nodded at him. Quickly speeding off towards the coffee machine, he refused to make any more eye contact with the super solider. The other man didn’t seem to find this at all odd and he heard bare feet padding after him. “What’s your schedule like today, Shellhead?”

Brown eyes darting to the blonde and back to the coffee pot that was slowly filling up, he finally looked at the time spanned across it. Huh. It _was_ early enough for there to be a schedule for ‘today.’ Tony wasn’t sure about the answer though. “J?”

The AI responded as quickly as he ever did, and yes, no one could tell him that JARVIS was not a ‘he,’ thank you very much. “Sir has a full schedule today and a flight to Shanghai scheduled to take off at six tonight, as I have been trying to remind him of all night.”

At that the coffee pot sang its tune of bliss and Tony hastily poured himself a cup hoping caffeine might prove what he heard earlier to be a withdrawal induced delusion. “Trying implies that you didn’t succeed, J. You reminded me fine. I just didn’t care.”

“My mistake, Sir.” Rolling his eyes did nothing to prevent JARVIS from continuing sarcastically. “I will make sure to use the appropriate wording from now on. Sir inclined to ignore me, Captain Rogers.”

Steve sighed in exasperation but he was clearly already used to this from the genius. “ _Tony_. You need sleep to function properly.” Watching the smaller man down the cup of dark caffeinated death he’d made, he heard him moan with appreciation. Shifting on his feet, he crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look stern even as his dick gave a twitch of interest at the sound.

“I’ll sleep in the meetings. Pepper won’t mind.” With that Tony abandoned the empty cup on the counter and went to leave the kitchen to go get dressed for his boring meetings that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on. He wouldn’t be getting any sleep even if he wanted to, not with this new information buzzing around his brain.

“Pepper will eat you alive if she catches you. Which I’m sure she will.” Before he could escape all the way, Steve’s voice carried to his ears. “You forgot about Shanghai, didn’t you? It’s good you’re going though. I, uh, have some stuff I just promised to do with Sharon. I’d have needed to cancel our plan to test the prototypes like we talked about.”

While not actually prepared for Steve to bring up the date he heard him making, Tony didn’t let it trip him up this time. Turning his head, he called back to the solider as he bordered the elevator. “You don’t need to tell me every little thing you do, Capsicle. Our plans weren’t concrete.”

The doors closed in front of the other man before Steve could answer back and he was left there in the kitchen feeling foolish. “Oh.” He rubbed at the back of his neck wondering what he’d done wrong. “I just thought you’d have liked to know…” He quietly muttered the words to himself while he considered what he’d say to Tony the next time he saw the other Avenger.

* * *

 

A documentary on the Cold War was playing on the TV when Tony walked into the common room to check on his most frequent guest. Of course that was besides Bruce, the only one to outright accept his offer to reside at the tower fulltime.  He had an arrangement with the super solider where neither of them mentioned how he was spending nights here more often than not as of late.

It was as he laid his eyes on the blonde, who was leaned forward, focused expression on, that the realization hit Tony hard. God, he loved the guy. He stumbled as the thought settled in his mind nice and deep. This was a surprise. Of course they’d been spending a fair amount of time with one another as they ran into each other wandering the halls at night. Neither was that great at sleeping throughout the night which resulted in a lot of companionable movie watching.

From there they’d moved on to daytime acknowledgement of the other and eventually to eating their meals together when Tony slinked out of the workshop for sustenance. Now that he thought about it that was really the only place he never saw Steve. Any time he left it he always ended up in the blonde’s presence. Now he knew why he’d kept being drawn to him. This was bad.

Steve had caught sight of Tony as he came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the room. “Tony? Are you okay?” When he didn’t answer, lost in his worry, the other man stood and wandered over to him. “Hey, you in there?” A hand was waved in front of his face, breaking him out of his thoughts and his own hand flinched out to grab at it.

When his fingers wrapped around the thick wrist, he looked down at it captured in his hand. It wasn’t like they hadn’t causally touched before. He was actually a very touchy feely guy after all. It just felt different, knowing what he did and all. Looking up at the taller man, he let go and ran his fingertips lightly down his arm. Steve’s lips parted slightly at the unexpected contact.

He zeroed in on that and stared until the tip of a pink tongue darted out to wet lips, then he moved his gaze to azure eyes. What Tony could only call a whine escaped the other man and before he knew it they were all over each other. They hadn’t slept together that day but they came close, only Bruce’s arrival stopping it. Though they did fall into bed just two days later.

That was how it started.

* * *

 

Tony had a lot of time to think in Shanghai and he thought enough even when he didn’t have time. He just kept remembering that phone call. Steve had called the plans he set up with Sharon a ‘date’ before he hung up and had been speaking in a low intimate tone. Plus he’d sounded especially awkward while telling Tony about his plans with his ex-girlfriend. It all pointed to one thing, the first conclusion he had come to and hated. Now all he could think about was what would happen when he got back from his business trip.

Since he’d gotten here he’d ignored all the calls and messages Steve had sent him. It wasn’t even that difficult with how few there had been. Even when Tony was doing official business around or outside the tower they had kept in contact by text. An awful lot of texts actually. Sometimes it was just random pictures of things sent to him that Steve found particularly cute or amusing. Yet there were a scarce amount delivered to him now.

He wondered if Steve would have already removed his things from his room when he got back or if he was waiting for him to return to collect them. It was all very up in the air with them not having called an official end to their arrangement. He had slept in his bed alone the four nights leading up to his departure and he couldn’t help but think that might have had more to do with Steve ending things than because Natasha had been staying for a bit.

Usually, if members of the team stayed too long in the tower, Steve would take the chance to at least visit the penthouse for a few hours. The man had an outrageously strong sex drive and cutting corners on it didn’t seem to work for him. He’d only left Tony alone for, at max, three days in a row. By the fourth night he’d always gotten a visit from the super soldier. What if Sharon had been helping him with it and that’s why he hadn’t come?

To say the least: Tony was a mess. He couldn’t concentrate on anything for very long before he thought about it again. Pepper was noticing and giving him hell for it too, which didn’t help matters. He considered just telling her what was going on and hearing her opinion on the matter, but even he knew talking to your ex about your current lover was a shitty move. So he suffered in silence, feeling his chest tighten like something was lodged in it whenever he thought about Steve and Sharon together.

The one thing he hadn’t expected was Steve to look so goddamn thrilled to see him when he got back. When the larger man realized who was boarding the elevator with him, his face lit right up, completely not accounting for Pepper standing right next to him. “Tony, you’re back.” She seemed surprised at Steve’s reaction to him or maybe it was the matching grin that slowly started taking over his own face. The last she knew about their relationship, they were barely keeping themselves from throwing things at each other in their Avenger arguments. They still had those enough often, the fights just ended differently.

“Yeah, Cap. Sure am.” The two were still smiling at one another when the elevator made its stop at Tony’s office floor. Pepper went back to looking at her papers as she disembarked and he followed after her, unsure why Steve was acting so friendly. He was still thinking about the run in with the super solider when they made it safely within his office walls.

“I didn’t know you had gotten so close with Steve. I’m glad. You need more friends like Jim in your life.” He supposed he should be glad that Pepper didn’t assume the worst of him. While not something he ever had to deal with, running his own company and all, sleeping with what technically accounted for his own boss probably wasn’t the most ethical thing. It still rubbed him a bit at the inaccurate comparison to Rhodey though.

“Yeah, we get on like tie dye on a hippie. Now, about leaving me out of these business deals…”

“No. Sign these.”

* * *

 

He supposed there were other things he hadn’t expected either. The biggest being that Steve would show up at the penthouse that night acting like everything was normal. “Sir, Captain Rogers is requesting entry.” Tony paused mid-bite into his gluten free, soaked in cream cheese bagel. He lowered it onto the counter and wiped his hands of crumbs slowly.

Steve was probably there to collect his stuff and deliver his rousing speech of apologetic blame for ending things. Honestly, he really didn’t want to deal with it. Which was why he had opted to eat on his floor, something he never did without Steve. Lately he’d been taking his meals in the common area with the super solider. “Let’s get this over with. J, let him in.”

The elevator doors opened and Steve walked in wearing what Tony had dubbed his ‘seduction’ jeans. It was the first pair he’d gotten, a gift from Natasha, and according to the blonde they had fit too tightly for his liking. Tony had complimented them once and ever since the man had used that information against him. He wondered if he was using it on Sharon now.

Before he could say anything, Steve walked forward, right towards him, with a growing smile on his face. “How was Shanghai?” He didn’t even get a chance to answer. The only warning being Steve’s approach, he was suddenly pressed up against the counter. The edge of it hit into the small of his back as he was loomed over, their bodies pressed together. “I missed you, Tony.”

It was said against his neck, the breath ghosting over his skin, before lips started to kiss a line down it. “Sh-Shanghai was fine.” His mind was going crazy with possibilities even as he moved his head to the side to give the other man better access to his neck. Did he hear the phone call wrong? Maybe Steve had tried it with Sharon again but it didn’t work out? All he really knew was that he was still wanted. Thank god.

Wrapping his arms around the other man’s shoulders, he lifted his legs and pushed them against the counter to entice Steve into giving him more space to hop onto the surface. Instead of backing up or even leaving his neck, he was lifted up and set on top. Not being the first time he had been picked up so effortlessly by Steve, he just ignored it and spread his legs to give space for the soldier’s hips. “That’s good. Bedroom?”

At Tony’s nod, a hand ran down his back and then pressed into it to push him flush against a hard body. In one move his hips were hoisted up to sit at the V of Steve’s waist and he was pulled off the counter, kept in place with one arm. A shudder went through his body and he attacked the lips that had left his neck, mashing their mouths together in a graceless dance. He was still sucking on his tongue, mimicking the blow job he ever much wanted to give him, when they hit the end of the bed.

Steve didn’t drop him or fall down into the sheets with him, instead he lowered Tony into it, not yet willing to give up the kiss. When his ass finally touched down onto the duvet, he backed his head up with a gasp. Immediately the blonde was pulling off his own shirt and then pulling at his belt to tear it off. Getting the picture, he followed his example and started to rip off his own clothes, glad he’d been barefoot.

Once his pants were off, he turned over and crawled up the bed to dig into the nightstand where they kept the lube. He’d only just managed to grab it when he felt hands surround his hips, slowly dragging him back down the bed and up against Steve’s hard cock. It never ceased to surprise him how fast the blonde managed to get aroused. It…took more for Tony to get to that point even when he was really feeling it.

Before he knew it he was being flipped over and their erections were ground together as Steve chased his lips, freeing a hand from his hips to steal the lube from him. Without the steel hand keeping his leg in place, he moved it to the side, letting Steve fall into the open space it created. Normally they were more patient than this during their first round but it had been a full week since the last time they did this.

Before Steve that amount of time hadn’t been a problem for Tony but apparently his body had been conditioned to more frequent schedule of getting off. By day five he’d begun to pop a semi at the strangest of things. It was like he was a teenager again and he didn’t like it one bit, not when he was feeling so down about the end of their pseudo relationship. God, he felt so terribly needy. Maybe that’s why Steve had poked his nose back in Sharon’s direction.

Biting his lip until he felt pain, Tony turned his head to the side, trying to chase the thought away. Steve didn’t seem to notice, as invested as warming the lube between his fingers as he was while making hickey’s along Tony’s shoulder. He felt the tip of a wet finger tease his rim, but he grabbed the hand before it could go further. “Cage?” This had Steve pausing but not for very long, his blonde head shook before bringing his attention back to the hole in front of him.

“Would take too long.” That right there was enough for his dick to get just a bit harder. Just knowing that Steve didn’t want to delay his own pleasure to keep Tony from complete over-stimulation got his engine going more than anything else so far. What could only be described as a smirk settled on the other man’s face. “I thought you might like that.” Nodding fast, he started to feel the finger that teased him finally breach his rim and he sagged back into the bed. 

Prepping might not be his favorite part might it very might have well been Steve’s. Watching Tony’s reactions while he wasn’t distracted by his own euphoria had to be one of the most exciting things in the world. It gave him a feeling of the most primal masculine pride that he’d ever felt, which he would never be able to tell the brunet about if he wanted to live. Tony always got a little touchy about his reactions in bed.

It wasn’t long before the fingers in his ass were removed to make room for Steve’s cock and this is where things got interesting for Tony. While the super solider always did his best to make prepping him pleasurable, he had always preferred the real thing to fingers. Steve was just so large that he couldn’t help but hit his prostate on every thrust and the drawn out friction was the best. With this in mind he couldn’t help but spread his legs lustfully as he lifted his ass to urge Steve on. He didn’t have to wait long.

Steve had finally given up on slow and methodical, pressing forward eagerly to finally be encased in Tony’s wet, warm, velvety heat. He ignored his quiet whine of pain from the initial penetration as Tony had always insisted he do. “ _T-tony_!” A hand came up sluggishly and petted at his hair, before pulling him down to eager lips. He felt legs wrap around his hips before they became to pistol into the man below him.

“That’s right, Steve. Come on Stud, take what you need.” It always amazed him how willing Tony was to let him achieve his first orgasm as quickly as he always did. Not once had he ever come before Steve in all their times together. At first it had made him feel inadequate but Tony had explained to him that he could never just cum as quickly or as often as Steve did. After he came once the show was all but over for him and he wanted it to go longer than passed just one orgasm if his partner was capable of that and Steve was very capable.

With a groan, he pressed into Tony harder, shuddering as his release overcame him. Even as his hips surged forward in little aftershocks of pure pleasure, a hand ran down his sweaty back to comfort him through it. Looking down through the haze of afterglow, Steve could see that Tony had finally gained full hardness. One sharp whine escaped him as he shuffled his hips into a more pleasurable position before he began to move again, his refractory period down to nothing with such a beautiful sight in front of him.

Tony would never get used to how Steve could just go on and on. He’d never had a partner like this and he was sure no one else did either. Steve was one of a kind, having to cum at least six times before he was even close to done. Which was way they using put Tony in a cock cage before staring one of their sessions. This time he would had to starve off his own orgasm as long as possible. Something that would be quite hard with how he could feel Steve pushing through his own spend to thrust into Tony, forced to listen to the sounds that accompanied it. Condoms had never been a thing for them and he never wanted them to be. Steve just felt too good bare inside of him.

There was another gasp from the blonde as Tony’s prostate was hit dead-on by the pulsating cock before it dove into him further to be completely surrounded by his heat. The kiss that followed was wet and sloppy with how slack jawed Steve got during orgasm. It didn’t seem to matter to the other man though, always one to attempt a kiss while cumming into him. With the jack rabbiting hips and messy kiss, Tony was forced to grab the base of his cock tightly to prevent himself from orgasming. Steve apparently wasn’t too far gone not to notice this, smiling down at the blushing man he was inside of.

Apparently he also wanted to make it difficult for Tony, dropping his complete body weight on him and rutting on top of him to create more friction against the brunet’s dick. The surprise was enough to have him loosening his grip and his balls took the opportunity to release their load all over sweaty super solider abs. “I didn’t say you could touch yourself.” Steve planted a kiss on his neck. “Or that you could cum.” It was breathy and said straight into Tony’s ear. “I’ll have to punish you. Color?”

The switch in tone was nearly undetectable but it was enough to get his attention. Even knowing what would come if he said it, Tony just couldn’t help himself. He really wanted it. “Green, Steve.” Right after he said the word, without any hesitation at all, Steve began to plow into him. The overstimulation was just too much and he lost himself in it. He clawed at Steve’s back, making marks that would quickly disappear and he sobbed with the overwhelming pleasure pain of it all. This was exactly where he wanted to be, unable to think about Sharon together with his fellow Avenger at all.

The only thing Tony took any note off at all was Steve shuddering over him, filling him up all over again. This one finally seemed to slow the blonde down just a bit. He took the time to run his hands down Tony’s sides sensually, eventually pulling his hair to adjust his head into the right place so he could make out with the blissed out body beneath him. There were the clanking of teeth that got Tony’s attention less than Steve picking up his hips and thrusting into him again did. He came to his senses shortly before Steve came for the fourth time in a row.

He had expected a kiss to accompany it but was sorely disappointed when Steve didn’t lunge down from his knees to get it. He also expected there to be at least two more orgasms before the other man was through with him, especially having gone through a week long dry spell. It didn’t come either though. Instead his hips were gently set down as Steve removed his length from him, cum spilling down his legs as he did. Everything was sore but he was expecting more and he felt the disappointment rage through him harder when he didn’t get it.

Steve went about the room, cleaning him up gently while Tony laid there and tried to catch his breath. He’d gotten pretty close to subspace but hadn’t managed to get there, the thought of Sharon for that split second preventing it. Steve seemed to notice this, but still kept to his aftercare routine as if Tony had sunk as low as he could go. The two ended up cuddled close together under the covers. Tony was too exhausted to protest going to bed so much earlier than he intended. Without prompting he fell straight to sleep, not even the twinge of worry about why Steve had stopped so soon able to keep him awake.

* * *

 

With all the unexpected things that had happened last night Tony should have taken comfort in something routine happening when he woke up. Steve was gone as per usual and for the first time he was a little upset about it. The other man always left a note or a message to be relayed by JARVIS for him, but after a week apart worrying he really wanted the close contact he’d been deprived of.

Just as he thought, he found a note on the bed when he stretched out on it. It was simple and to the point. Starting the day, gone for a run. Unlike Tony, Steve couldn’t stand to spend the day lounging around and was incapable of waiting around for him to wake up before beginning his day. Looking over at the clock, he noticed that it now read ten, earlier than normal for him on a day nothing was scheduled but no way near early for Steve. “JARVIS, where’d he wander off to?”

“Captain Rogers went for a run around five this morning before coming back to the Tower until about an hour ago, Sir.” He was just stepping into the shower, when it occurred to him that his question hadn’t really been answered. It was something his AI rarely did, avoiding the question. He made him think about not asking again because it probably meant he wasn’t going to like the answer. Yet even if he didn’t ask he had already caught on to the omission and would be unable to forget it.

Scrubbing himself clean, he considered his options instead of giving in to the urge to ask too soon. He avoided the water hitting his face, as he always did, and stepped out from his shower quicker than he had in years when he wasn’t in a hurry. A towel was pressed against his face when he decided to speech, almost hoping JARVIS wouldn’t hear him. “I asked where Steve is, J.” It was quiet for only a moment before the British voice came over the speakers.

“My apologies, Sir. You were not direct in your questioning. Captain Rogers is out with Agent Carter at the moment.” That was…that hurt a little. Three days with no contact at all and an extra four with no sex and Steve would still rather be at Sharon’s side than Tony’s. He had let his guard down too soon. Really, he should have worried more about that phone call instead of falling straight into Steve’s arms thinking everything was okay just because the man wanted to fuck him.

Steve wouldn’t cheat though so maybe he wasn’t exclusive with Sharon yet and Tony was as easy a lay as any. Truly, ridiculously, easy. Steve must have done it with her yesterday too, not just with him. That would explain why he hadn’t gone as long as he usually did. Sharon had kept him satisfied while he was gone. Another thought, treacherously, made its way into his mind. If they weren’t exclusive yet then maybe Tony had a chance to get Steve back or maybe he was even overreacting. They could just be hanging out like friends. “What are they doing, J?”

“Having tea.” Whipping his head up, he glared at the ceiling. JARVIS was totally ignoring his ‘tell me everything’ vibes on purpose.

“What are they talking about?”

“My privacy protocols do not allow me to tell you that, Sir.” Which meant only one thing, they were talking about something that JARVIS deemed to be something that they would not want Tony to hear unless they explicitly consented. Why had he even bothered installing his AI into the team’s phones if this is all he got from it? His worry may very well be unfounded though. They could just be talking about a mission he hadn’t been involved in or…or about how much they loved each other, about ending things with Tony.

“Are they talking about a mission?”

“No, Sir.”

Damnit. He felt sick, as if something was lodged deep in his chest and he ended up coughing badly. He had to drink some water before it cleared up. This was okay, this was fine. So what if Steve didn’t care about Tony the way he had thought he did? This was expected. Tony always cared more about things that meant nothing than others did, overanalyzing every expression and gesture until it was easier to just not think about it at all. Tony had meant nothing, just an easy comfortable fling. A stepping stone while Steve repaired his relationship with Sharon.

With this in mind he went down to his workshop, hoping to bury himself in work. It didn’t work as well as he hoped it would, his mind capable of running on numerous tracks at the same time. He was still considering what his best course of action would be when he heard the sliding of his workshop door. He turned quickly, expected Pepper, and getting something else entirely. Steve stood there, decked in nothing but a pair of pajama pants that hung way too low for Tony’s eyes not to trace the drooping line they made. It was highly unusual for Steve to come down here.

“Ah, Tony…” He large man scuffed his slipper covered feet along the floor like a schoolboy. “I don’t want to disturb you but I was wondering…if you were going to go to bed tonight?” He sounded hopeful as if he really wanted Tony to come upstairs with him. As if he hadn’t just been with Sharon all day. Tony had been sure to check with JARVIS to be made aware of Steve’s movements today. He had gone to Agent Carter’s place. Even knowing this, Tony couldn’t resist doing what Steve so obviously wanted.

“Yeah, I’m coming up.” Tony watched him smile slowly as he went about closing the holograms open on his workstation. He really shouldn’t be doing this, not when it meant more to him than it did to Steve. He would just have to control it then if he wasn’t going to give it up. There were things he could do to prevent an unwanted attachment from lingering too much. With that in mind, he followed the super solider up to his room, what he had once considered their shared space for the most part.

Things went quickly from there as they stripped each other of their clothes and slid into the bed together. Besides the cock cage, Tony didn’t let Steve do anything that might bring him down into subspace and even held out a condom to him before they got started. He didn’t want to think about where Steve’s cock had already been today even if he couldn’t transmit diseases. Having kept thinking about it he had paused what they were doing to go dig one out of his nightstand.

When he turned around with it in his hand Steve had been surprised and obviously a bit disappointed. Tony could understand that, after all he had never made him wear one before. In fact he had delighted in feeling Steve inside him without one. You could even say it was a kink of theirs, going bareback. Using one had in fact not been that great. Where Steve normally could have just cum and kept on going, he now had to stop and replace the latex barrier. Overall it had been the worst sex they had ever had and it wasn’t even completely due to the addition of condoms. There was a distance between them that they could both feel.

When Steve came for the fourth and, surprisingly, final time Tony had decided that he had been right about the blonde having had sex with Sharon yesterday before his return. Why else would Steve be orgasming with him less than he usually did. Maybe he just doesn’t find me that attractive anymore? I’m getting old, my body isn’t what it used to be. He thought about his flagging erections and suddenly felt warm humiliation run through his belly. His not-as-toned-as-it-once-was belly. Why in the world would Steve continue to stay in solely his bed when he couldn’t even keep it up before he came? That was even if it really had been ‘solely’ his bed. Their arraignment apparently hadn’t been a closed one. Who knew what Steve got up to when he wasn’t with Tony.

It was with this thought doing circles in his head that he turned to Steve after they were done and muttered, “Can you take your shaving kit with you when you go back to you room? It’s taking up a lot of space in the cabinet.” He kept his eyes closed so that he wouldn’t have to watch Steve as he said it, too worried he would see relief there at having Tony pull back from whatever it was they were doing. He didn’t see the way Steve froze up as he threw the washcloth into the dirty laundry.

“…Yeah, I can do that.” Steve collected his clothes slowly after that, feeling like it had been a dismissal more and more as he wasn’t stopped. Tony never even opened his eyes even though he was obviously awake. “Is there anything else that is taking up too much room? I’m sorry if there is.” It was quiet for a bit and Steve hoped that at minute Tony would say ‘no’ and tell him to get back into bed. Instead, he nodded with his eyes closed.

Tony hadn’t expected Steve to use this opportunity to be able to collect more of his stuff but he should have realized. “Yeah. I noticed a few of your sketchbooks around lately. Don’t worry I can just round everything up another time. You could be getting to bed.” Silence was the only answer he got and he heard feet pad into the bathroom and the medicine cabinet swing open. It closed a moment later and Steve came walking back into the room.

“I’ll be going now. Goodnight, Tony.” The last was said quietly right before the door to his bedroom shut with painful closure. Steve stood outside the door for a second before he started to walk quickly towards the elevator, trying to hold his tears back behind his stone face. He didn’t know what had happened. They’d been doing well, at least he thought so. He’d been careful about not pressing for too much too soon. Apparently he hadn’t been careful enough. Had Tony realized how he felt when he saw him again when he got back from the business trip. Steve _had_ been happy to see him, maybe he hadn’t controlled his reaction.

The minute the door shut behind Steve, Tony had curled up into a ball. The pain in his chest was worse than it had ever been before. He held his hand against his sternum, realizing that it didn’t feel like heartbreak like he had thought or even like it was his heart malfunctioning. It felt closer to his lungs, as if something was trying to get out. At that thought, without any warning, he started to cough again and this time something did come out of his mouth.

With a chest rattling cough he surged up in bed, expecting to end up throwing up all over his sheets. It never was what he expected though, was it? Instead of bile all that came up were petals. Blood covered petals that fluttered across his bed and shooting out all over the floor. It was a flood of them, having been kept down for so long. He could hear JARVIS in the background, but he threw his head back to ward him off calling anyone to his aid.

It was over fairly quickly but to him it felt like forever. He sagged back into the bed, eyes fluttering like crazy as he tried to keep them open. He’d been unable to breathe for so long that he thought if it had gone on for any longer he would have passed out. “Wh-what happened, J?” His throat felt raw but he had to ask, he knew he had swallowed any of that.

“The only thing I was able to find that explains your symptoms was an illness called the Hanahaki Disease. An infected individual will cough of petals when they find themselves in an unrequited love situation. It is rare, only affecting highly sensitive people, and has not been diagnosed since right before the 1950s. The last known case was in Germany.”

Before Tony could reply he felt a wave of nausea hit him and he rolled back onto his side, only to have more petals spill from his lips. When it was over he turned glazed eyes up to the ceiling and barely got out, “Cure?” All he could really think about was the fact that motherfucking Steve Rogers had infected him with a forties era illness that must have been unearthed with him. This was the worst STD ever. He’d have to kill him for this that was certain. His next thought was that he could never let him find out.

“It is said that the petals are caused by a growing plant in the lungs and if this plant can be removed, then the illness will cease. Along with that, any feelings towards the unrequited love interest will be gone. A search has come up with zero doctors alive who specialize or have knowledge of this procedure.”

That…Tony wasn’t sure how to feel about that. In the first moment he was quite happy to think he could kill two birds with one stone His feelings for Steve would be gone and he’d never have to worry about it again. Yet he also didn’t want to give these feelings up. They were his after all, though they weren’t returned. He didn’t know how he felt about there not being a doctor who knew how to treat him. At least he didn’t know until he started to heave again.

“Your infection appears to be particularly debilitating…I must also mention, Sir that without treatment the disease is deadly. At the rate you appear to be progressing this is a real concern. Should I call Dr. Banner?” Honestly, Tony did not want that at all. In fact he tried to wave JARVIS off that thought as he coughed, but instead of interpreting his gesture as anyone else would the traitor took it as a go ahead. “Okay, Sir. Alerting Dr. Banner now.” He didn’t even have the energy to glare angrily at the ceiling.

There didn’t seem to be any time between his AI saying that and when his bedroom door burst open to show a sleep ruffled Bruce rushing into his room. That may have been because he had started coughing up petals soon after he’d laid back down again. “Tony!” Bruce appeared at his side to pat his back as if that would help with this mystical flower shit. This didn’t feel real. How on earth was this disease real? “Breath through your nose. Yes, like that. That’s good.”

Before he knew it he was laying against his sex smelling sheets again. This time he realized what was causing the petals as his mind tried to start wandering towards Steve and Sharon again at the smell. He tried to crawl his way off the bed but Bruce was stopping him. “Please. Please, Bruce. Let me down from here. Please!” Unable to not give in to the very un-Tony like pleading that was coming from his friend, Bruce finally helped him down off the bed and onto the pile of bloody petals that now covered the floor.

Standing over him, Bruce could only look down at the wild imagery below him. The petals were a shade of blue that felt oddly familiar and their ends were red, soaked in blood. Curled up on top of the pile of petals was Tony, who wore only boxers with Steve’s shield printed on the ass. His lips were dusted in red from where the petals came out of his mouth. He looked truly exhausted. “Tony, what’s going on?”

Turning his face away and into the petals, he felt blood get wiped on his cheeks, as he heard JARVIS explain to Bruce what was going on. Fortunately, he left out exactly who Tony had found himself in love with. This, sadly, was what Bruce really wanted to know. He first solution was very non-medically in wanting Tony to tell whoever it was how he felt so that he could get an actually estimate of their feelings. He didn’t have the heart to tell his friend that his would be lover was actually currently dating someone else non-exclusively. That would put a dapper on all those ‘they probably love you too, Tony’s that were coming out of the other scientist.

Beyond that all they really talked about after a routine medical checkup, which for him consisted of an ultrasound to the chest, was that he shouldn’t think about the ‘unrequited’ part of this unrequited love as that seemed to trigger attacks. Attacks that, they had realized during the ultrasound, had the plant in his lungs growing. It was harder than ever before not to think about the blonde couple when he was explicitly told not to think about them. 

The only other thing was Tony pleading Bruce to cut the godforsaken plant out of his fucking body. Of course they had argued about it, but in the end they had settled on the fact that this was Tony’s decision no matter what Bruce thought about it. This came at the heels of the realization of just who his friend was actually in love with when he had been pleaded to ‘please god don’t tell Steve’ above anyone else. The boxers sort of helped with this theory even if Tony was known to own a lot of ridiculous Avenger’s merchandise. Doctor patient privilege had also been discussed which he thought was a low blow even if he technically didn’t really work under a legal practice where his medical license was a thing to be protected.

After all was said and done Tony had made his way back to the penthouse, sterling clear of his petal covered bedroom. He went so far as to actually lock the door, not wanting to think about the disaster tonight had been ever again if possible. By the time he woke up after finally getting to sleep with much tossing and turning, he had gone twelve hours without an attack. It wasn’t much but compared to the day before it was something. From that point on he began to avoid Steve as much as possible while trying to maintain as if everything was fine. To do so he occasionally had to show his face in front of the other man and act like he was fine.

Steve seemed bewildered by it all. Every time he tried to take Tony aside to talk to him, desperate to discuss what had become of ‘them,’ he’d been thawed. He couldn’t believe that it had ended so suddenly and that his friend of years was being so cold to him. He knew that his feelings might not be returned on the same level but they had been friends for goodness sake. This wasn’t how friends treated each other. His body would start to feel suspiciously ice cold when he thought about going back to how things had been before he’d made friends with Tony. Sure they’d argued a ton but that had cared about one another.

It had been a full week of this avoidance while Tony waited on Bruce to gain the knowhow on the necessary surgery to fix him up. The needed equipment had arrived by the third day but Bruce was still studying, locking down the process. Tony felt like he was stalling, hoping that Steve would somehow out stubborn him into talking about _feelings_. He was not about that life. One day he had even pulled a Clint and shot himself down a laundry shoot during a coughing fit as Steve followed him so that he wouldn’t be discovered. It was a difficult secret to keep when every time he saw the super solider he began to think about Sharon too.

* * *

 

Eventually, everything comes to a head.

Tony had been doing one of his ‘see Steve and then run away’ proof of life walks into the common room when he spotted the couple. Their heads were bent together as the talked, looking serious. Sharon turned her head when she heard him enter, not giving him a chance to run away, and then glared at him when she realized who it was. Her hands were on top of Steve’s over the table. He could feel the petals start to move up his throat. Turning swiftly, he went back into the elevator he had just exited. Behind him, Steve looked crushed.

Then expression eventually turned thunderous. He sat there for a while as Sharon tried to comfort him until he got up the courage, and angry, to go confront Tony. He stood quickly and marched towards the elevator. Since Tony had begun to avoid him he had noticed that JARVIS couldn’t tell him where Tony was if he asked in a general sense, but would answer if he asked about specific locations. Once he boarded the elevator he asked the AI, “Is Tony in the workshop, JARVIS?” There was a beat of silence where Tony informed the computerized butler to lie about his whereabouts when asked what to say.

“No, Sir is not in the workshop.”

“Then he must be in the Penthouse.”

The AI took his orders one step further since he had been told he could lie. “Yes, he is there, Captain Rogers.” Steve nodded, trying to come up with what he would say to the shorter man when he saw him. The elevator doors opened to the penthouse, not having had to tell JARVIS of his intentions. He walked into the living area and didn’t see Tony anywhere. Thinking he must be in his room he headed there where he found the door locked.

He pounded on it, incredibly mad at being so tactlessly avoided over the past week. “Open the door, Tony! We need to talk.” When this didn’t seem to work, he hit the door again with more strength than he originally intended. It burst off its hinges and his eyes widened as he took a step back. There was no cry of outrage from inside like he would have expected. “Tony?” Taking a step inside, and then another he found a mess of petals laying on the floor. “Wha-?” He spotted the blood quite quickly and he suddenly had a memory from his childhood blast through him.

His mother had to explain to him why one of the young ladies walking in front of them had stopped and suddenly begun to have beautiful white red petals fall from her mouth. It would have been beautiful if it hadn’t looked so painful. The image had stuck with him. It was just another one of the many diseases he had to worry about becoming susceptible to. He hadn’t seen or heard of it is this century at all even though it was something he had occasionally heard about before the war. Hanahaki Disease. Oh god, Tony.

While he went running down the stairs to the emergency exit, he thought about how odd Tony had been acting lately. Everything that had happened started to make him think that maybe, just maybe, Tony’s petals were for him. They had to be. He had spent so much time with Tony that he surely would have noticed him falling for someone else. His behavior would have changed at some point and with that many petals it couldn’t have been a sudden onset.

He knew Tony probably not have let the elevator open for him on the workshop’s floor so he had taken the stairs there instead. Once he was on the floor he went right up to the blacked out doors to the shop and knocked. “JARVIS, please tell Tony that either he lets me in or I break the door down.” He had expected more of a protest, but the doors slid open easily the moment after that. He walked into the workshop and there was Tony, leaning over his workspace and looking him straight in the eyes. Looking at him closely, he noticed that his legs were sticking out a bit, something blocking them from being fully hidden underneath the desk. He could just see the edge of a trashcan. “Tony, do you I’m seeing Sharon?” That was all it took. Tony’s throat jerked weirdly but he refused to open his mouth. Rushing over to him he pulled out the trashcan from under the desk and pushed it to the other man’s chest. It was already half full of flower petals.

Realizing that there was no hope of hiding this anymore, Tony opened his mouth and let the petals fall out. These weren’t as covered in blood as the ones in his bedroom and Steve didn’t think that was good. It probably meant they had less distance to travel to get to his mouth. The plant had grown. He rubbed the brunet’s back comfortingly, whispering in his ear. “It’s okay, Shellhead. I’m here. I…I love you, Tony. Don’t worry, I’m here. I’m here.”

The coughing finally stopped and Tony looked up at Steve, disbelief plain across his face. He pushed him away from him and yelled, voice hoarse. “You can’t just say that because I’m sick!” This was why he couldn’t let him know. Steve would try to save him, try to be a hero like he always did. “Loving someone doesn’t happen like that. That isn’t how it works, Steve.” Suddenly, he was pulled into a hard chest, head thumping against it.

“Of course that isn’t how it happens, Tony. It’s unexpected and it’s watching someone trying to be better every day. Trying to create a future they can be proud of. A safe one where heroes aren’t needed, even when it seems like it’s impossible. Why can’t you see how damn good you are, Tony? No matter what, you are always trying.” Pulling away from him slightly, he looked down into big brown eyes. “I fell in love with you because you were there for me every step of the way. Tony, you are my best friend. How couldn’t I love you?”

A wild blush spread across his face, he could feel it. Pushing Steve away he threw a hand over his face. “That’s a little too much.”

Steve pushed his chin up and pulled his hand away from his voice. “No, it really isn’t.” Leaning down, their lips crashed together and he choked back his laughter. Together they fell to the workshop floor, trashcan upending and petals going everywhere. Their clothes were tossed aside and they had made love right there on the floor, rolling around in the petals that showed just how unexpected this was.


End file.
